Rising seas an immediate issue

“THE THREAT of erosion, inundation and property damage from sea level rise in the borough is substantial and immediate.”

Borough of Queenscliffe Mayor Ross Ebbels says rapid action on climate change, with all levels of government working together, is essential to protect Bellarine communities.

Responding to another new study and interactive mapping, which shows the latest scientific modelling and impact of sea-level rise on coastal communities, Cr Ebbels said the council had been aware of the increasing threat for a long time and was “actively seeking opportunities to work with both state and federal government to address the risk of inundation”.

The new report names Queenscliffe and Point Lonsdale on the list of communities that could be inundated, along with Ocean Grove beach, Bells Beach, and Wye River beach as under threat of being washed away, unless significant action was taken.

Cr Ebbels said the first action to protect the community from sea-level rise was having “both levels of government take rapid action against climate change”.

“Our Climate Emergency Response Plan lists how we’re working towards becoming a Zero Carbon Community by 2031, and Council would like to see all levels of government take equally ambitious action to reduce our impact on the climate and the causes of sea level rise,” Cr Ebbels said.

“The second is preparation, including identifying, understanding and dedicating resources to the measures that will be required protect public and private assets.”

The new interactive web map, Coastal Risk Australia, shows that without immediate climate action, iconic beaches and tourism hotspots such as Queenscliffe, Point Lonsdale and other Bellarine communities could be washed away.

Coastal Risk Australia, developed in partnership by FrontierSI and NGIS Australia, is based on a new climate change report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which incorporates significant advancements in modelling the behaviour of ice sheets, indicating that by 2100 global sea levels could have increased by 0.84 metres.

“By 2050, sea level change of 15cm to 30cm will be unavoidable, this means that coastal flooding will become worse during storm surges,” said NGIS Australia executive director Nathan Eaton.

“Scenarios beyond 2050, however, become increasingly sensitive to choices and actions made by global communities to reduce emissions.”

Cr Ebbels said with the Borough being surrounded by water on three sides, the impacts of sea level rise have long been a concern.

“As a key partner in the Our Coast project, we’ve completed detailed assessments of the Borough’s vulnerability to sea level rise, including projected inundation mapping.

“This work has resulted in the design of potential mitigation measures that could be implemented to protect properties in the Borough.

“We’ve also identified further actions to take as part of our Climate Emergency Response Plan, with work on some of these priorities already under way,” Cr Ebbels said, encouraging the community to learn more about the borough’s response plan via its website.

Visit the coastalrisk website to use the mapping tool to see how the new IPCC projections will impact the Bellarine and other coastal communities.